Abstract: Objective To learn the subtypes of open reading frame 26 （ORF26） of human herpesvirus 8 （HHV-8） in patients with Kaposi′s sarcoma, and to evaluate the relationship of ORF26 subtypes to clinical types and invasiveness of Kaposi′s sarcoma. Methods Thirty-two paraffin-embeded tissue specimens of Kaposi′s sarcoma were collected in the Department of Dermatology, People′s Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, from 1996 to 2007. DNA was extracted from these specimens, nested-PCR was used to amplify HHV-8 DNA. PCR products were subjected to bi-directional sequencing after extraction from agarose gels. Phylogenetic analysis was carried out by using the software DNAStar, program Clustal W and PHYLIP package for the determination of ORF26 subtype. Fisher′s exact test was performed to evaluate the relationship of ORF26 subtypes to clinical types and invasiveness of Kaposi′s sarcoma. Results Of the 32 specimens, 30 were positive for HHV-8 DNA with a positivity rate of 93.75%, and 6 specimens of AIDS related Kaposi′s sarcoma were all positive. ORF26 A subtype was detected in the HHV-8 DNA of 17 positive specimens, and C subtype in that of other 13 specimens. Neither the incidence of mucosal lesions nor the distribution of clinical subtypes was of significant difference between patients with ORF26 A subtype and those with ORF26 C subtype （both P > 0.05）. Conclusions A and C may be the predominate subtypes of ORF 26 in HHV-8 of patients with Kaposi′s sarcoma, and the ORF26 subtype is unrelated to the presence of mucosal lesions in or the clinical types of patients with Kaposi′s sarcoma.